Man sees a worker mowing the lawn at a roundabout and cannot believe his eyes: "It was synthetic grass"
It will certainly have been the case that you have seen someone cutting the grass - especially in the spring when nature reawakens. Whether it's in private or public, you will need to clean up the flower beds and prune the bushes and trees at the onset of the spring. In this regard, the municipalities usually take measures and systematize the cleaning of the streets and surrounds, above all, to ensure public safety. Tall weeds, for example, could create traffic visibility problems, so municipal operators intervene and restore order in areas where nature has got a little wild and out of hand.
This is a very normal practice that usually does not bring with it any sort of issue or problem. A man who, a few days ago, witnessed a very curious scene does not agree with this statement, however. A municipal worker was mowing the grass at a roundabout, but take note: the lawn in question was synthetic (i.e. artificial). Let's see what this man said on Twitter:
via BBC
Nigel Castle, is a 49-year-old dad who was driving through Yeovil, Somerset, UK a few days ago. Whilst in the car with his son, the man noticed something strange happening at a roundabout they were passing through.
A municipal worker was mowing the grass - something that wouldn't normally leave motorists baffled - were it not for the fact that the lawn in question was artificial. You read that right. The grass was not real, but synthetic and the man was "trimming" it with a lawnmower. This was a scene that left Nigel somewhat bemused. So, what did Nigel do at this point? He stopped his car and asked his son to take some pictures of this bizarre scene, after which he posted them on the web.
Taking the episode as an opportunity, the man, who works as an aeronautical engineer, decided to send a message first of all to the city administration and then to the public in general. Nigel wrote: "Nature needs our help in this moment of severe crisis. Covering the planet with plastic is not a solution to this crisis, especially if it is replacing real grass with synthetics. There are many real plants in the area that need little care - you could have opted for dealing with one of those".
From here, the discussion of the incident has become more serious and our author has focused even more attention on the disproportionate use that we all make of plastic in our daily lives. "We're covering the planet in plastic and it's not right," he said. For this reason, he asked the city administration to do something about the issue and to remove the synthetic grass, replacing it with real grass, which would also be good for the wildlife and insects.
A response from the South Somerset Municipal Council was not long in coming and, in the statement from a spokesperson, the official line was as follows: "We understand the concern that has caused a local citizen to send this message and we thank him for sharing his thoughts and we apologize for what the worker did. In fact, his job was to only pull out the weeds that had grown through the artificial grass and not mow the grass itself". The comunique continued: "Unfortunately we were forced to put down artificial grass in that roundabout. It is a very busy roundabout and we looked for ways to avoid sending our employees to it too often as it is a dangerous location and protecting our staff and keeping them safe takes priority".
In a nutshell, to safeguard the safety of municipal operators, the authorities have opted for this artificial grass solution which, as stated by the spokesman, is rare and nobody intends to apply a similar solution in other parts of the city. "We know it's not the best option for the environment, but we also had to take into account the safety of our workers," concluded the official statement.
In recent years, environmental issues have become increasingly hotly debated, and every possible way is being tried to raise the public's awareness of the crisis. If we reduce our use of plastic - or at least pay attention to its disposal - we will all benefit, because this planet is the only one we have and by respecting it, we respect ourselves.
